The first Thursday of Daylight Saving Time produced slightly lower numbers for CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and ABC’s “Scandal,” but they remained the night’s top shows among young adults. Fox, meanwhile, improved its standing by bringing “Hell’s Kitchen” to the night.

And of note in latenight was the closest finish to date for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” vs. NBC’s “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, CBS won the night across the board thanks largely to “The Big Bang Theory” (4.9 rating/17 share in adults 18-49, 17.3 million viewers overall), which was easily Thursday’s No. 1 program and beat its combined ABC-NBC-Fox competition by 36% in 18-49 (4.9 to 3.6); it was down from last week’s 5.3 national rating. “Big Bang” was followed by “The Millers” (2.6/8 in 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall) and “Two and a Half Men” (2.6/8 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall), which appear to be very compatible; while “Millers” was down a little from last week, “Men” held steady and won its half-hour over “Grey’s Anatomy” and the timeslot premiere of Fox’s “American Idol.”

CBS dropped off from there with “The Crazy Ones” (1.8/5 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall), though it was up a tick from last week, and “Elementary” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall) capped the night with a second-place finish in demos and winning in total viewers.

(Note that due to preemptions for basketball in 2.4 of the country, the numbers for CBS are subject to more revision than usual. The net will win the night, but some program averages figure to change.)

Elsewhere, ABC remained a non-factor in the night’s opening hour with “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 3.1 million viewers overall) before roughly tripling that demo number at 9 p.m. with “Grey’s Anatomy” (2.3/7 in 18-49, 7.1 million viewers overall), which edged out CBS and Fox for the hour in 18-49 but matched its low. Closing out the night, “Scandal” (2.7/8 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall) was down a smidge from last week — though its early rating of 2.74 suggests that it should round up to a 2.8 in the nationals — and was Thursday’s No. 1 drama in key demos.

Fox premiered “Hell’s Kitchen” in the 8 o’clock hour (second-place 1.9/7 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall), down a little from its year-ago premiere on a Tuesday and retaining about 85% of the demo rating delivered the previous week by “American Idol.” And at 9 p.m., “Idol” premiered in its new timeslot with a 2.2/6 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall, matching last week’s 8 p.m. demo score. It placed second in most demos while narrowly winning in total viewers.

By adding “Hell’s Kitchen” and relocating “Rake” to Fridays, Fox was able to immediately improve its Thursday — rising 40% in 18-49 (0.6) from last week when “Idol” led into “Rake.”

At NBC, “Community” held steady (1.0/4 in 18-49, 2.9 million viewers overall) but “Parks and Recreation” dipped (1.1/4 in 18-49, 2.7 million viewers overall). They were followed by “Hollywood Game Night” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall), down slightly from last week, and “Parenthood” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall), which was on par with last week while edging up in total viewers for its largest audience since before the Olympics.

CW aired an encore “The Vampire Diaries” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 1.1 million viewers overall) followed by an original “Reign” (0.6/2 in 18-49, 1.7 million viewers overall), which impressed by nearly matching last week’s 18-49 score despite that softer lead-in.

In latenight, NBC’s “Tonight Show” finished on top in the early numbers but hit a low in both households (2.9 rating/7 share) and adults 18-49 (1.1/5). Conversely, “Jimmy Kimmel,” which is originating this week from Austin, was on the high end (2.6/7 in householde and 1.0/5 in adults 18-49); the demo score is the show’s second best in the last three months.